Yeah, you got a great deal. I've been hearing this story at least since I worked there, about 15 years ago.

We absolutely did. I’d pity CERN for the loss of some amazing, hardworking talent, but they had their chance.

I don't have any sympathy for CERN and neither do they have any for their employees. The people that run CERN are entirely focused on a particular path of scientific progress and their handling of the situation will only change if they can't find people to do the work that needs to be done.

An article like this is a nice alarm bell that maybe they should reconsider their approach, but nothing will really change until it impacts their bottom line, which is getting correct work done on a timely schedule.

That said, I think it's fair to say particle physics hasn't had any major discoveries since the Higgs and no sure-fire theoretical path toward one, either, so the best and brightest may start looking at other fields.